View Full Version : Channel cat not doing well
Gambusia
08-29-2004, 4:42 PM
I am putting my 12" channel cat in the creek.
His fins are all torn up and he is just not doing well with the 2 gar and largemouth bass in my 75 gal.
I had planned to get a 150 gal stock tank for my bass, and I still will, but something came up.
Hopefully he will recover in the wild.
This fish orginally came from a state hatchery.
cdawson
08-29-2004, 7:06 PM
DO NOT RELEASE FISH THAT ARE NOT NATIVE TO YOUR AREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you stupid?! Do you not read the newspaper or pay attention to what's been going on in the hobby?!
theFinn
08-29-2004, 9:02 PM
Uhh, channel cats are native to north american rivers. If the poster lives in the US where channel cats are common (and he does judging by the fact he got the fish from a state hatchery), he'll simply be putting the fish back into its natural environment.
Granted, if it's been tank kept all it's life it probably won't survive in the wild for very long but it's not going to harm anything.
Perhaps you should think a little before you fly off the handle.
Gambusia
08-29-2004, 10:13 PM
Sorry for not being clear.
I am in the Southern US and we have wild channel catfish.
StreetCypher
08-30-2004, 1:43 AM
Being in captivity all its life probably gives it a pretty slim chance in the wild. Hopefully he'll make it and if not then nature will take its course.
OrionGirl
08-30-2004, 8:40 AM
Releasing aquarium fish into the wild is a very, very bad idea, and often illegal. The aquarium fish may have been exposed to pathogens which will be released into the wild--and these non-native introductions (pathogens and parasites count!) can be lethal to the local fisheries. Please, please, do not release that fish.
Channel cats are very hardy--it's unlikely that the injuries are a big problem, unless water conditions are so poor that they do not heal and become infected. These fish are not appropriate for many home aquaria (and what 5 foot fish would be?), but once taken into the aquarium, releasing them is not a good solution. Find it another home, or euthanize it.
Gambusia
08-30-2004, 8:49 AM
I caught it out of a local lake after it was stocked by the game department?
If it had pathogens it's already released them into the wild.
Gambusia
08-30-2004, 8:52 AM
He is not sick but beat up and stressed from being in the tank with a bass and 2 gars.
He was swimming funny too.
Well I may or may not put him back where I caught him.
You guys make some good points.
OrionGirl
08-30-2004, 9:07 AM
The fish may have been exposed to these pathogens while in your tank--didn't have them before, but does now. There is a very real possibility that whirling disease was released into N. American waters by anglers using goldfish as bait--pathogens from aquariums can survive in waters that kill the hosts, and go on to kill native fish. Please, contact your state Game and Fish, or Natural Resources agency, and speak with a fisheries biologist. See what they say--and then follow their advice!
cdawson
08-30-2004, 10:10 AM
Uhh, channel cats are native to north american rivers. If the poster lives in the US where channel cats are common (and he does judging by the fact he got the fish from a state hatchery), he'll simply be putting the fish back into its natural environment.
Granted, if it's been tank kept all it's life it probably won't survive in the wild for very long but it's not going to harm anything.
Perhaps you should think a little before you fly off the handle.
You CANNOT release fish that have been kept in the home aquaria back to the wild. If you catch something for a home aquaria, make sure you can properly keep it. If not, don't take it home.
Gambusia
08-30-2004, 4:22 PM
Sure you can if the game and fish people say it's OK.
daveedka
08-30-2004, 5:14 PM
I'd agree that the best avenue is to ask your fish and game people and take their advice. Some states do have laws that make release illegal even if it is a native species. It would be bad if you ended up in trouble trying to help your fish. They may not care given that it is a native species, it did come from the wild, and it is kept with what sounds like other fish you captured from your area. Your gar will eventually get too big for your tank as well. and you already know what the bass can become, although he is the smallest of the three potentially.
dave
Gambusia
08-30-2004, 8:06 PM
The catfish is in quarentine right now.
The other 3 fish will be moved to a bigger tank soon.
cdawson
08-30-2004, 9:01 PM
Sure you can if the game and fish people say it's OK.
Guaranteed they won't. If they do, they're not very responsible.
ab_lexus
08-30-2004, 11:54 PM
why not just eat it?
[Mr. Burns' voice] Excellent idea, Smithers!! /[Mr. Burns' voice]
Andrew
cdawson
08-31-2004, 12:06 AM
why not just eat it?
You can't eat aquarium fish...
in fact I think you posted a topic on that exact topic quite a few months ago.
BTW Hans, how are you dwarf puffers?
ditched them a looonngg time ago, having to go to petsmaart and collect snails for the finiky little guys got annoyin fast... some kid from a good fish store took them from me for his house he loves them
cdawson
08-31-2004, 10:25 AM
ditched them a looonngg time ago, having to go to petsmaart and collect snails for the finiky little guys got annoyin fast... some kid from a good fish store took them from me for his house he loves them
that sucks, but you could have just grown them yourself in a bucket...